Reviewing nukes was not Trump's first order, it was his 13th

She praised the United Nations sanctions, specifically highlighting China and Russia's support for the measures and said that the bellicose statements by Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis were "part of the diplomacy". Humphrey also said that Trump is "impaired by a seriously sick psyche", and that "his sick mind and reckless conduct could consume the lives of millions".

Former Obama foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes on Wednesday called President Trump's claims to have already modernized the USA nuclear arsenal "alarming" amid rising tensions with North Korea.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he doesn't believe there is "any imminent threat" from North Korea, including to the us territory of Guam.

"The president spoke to him, to Kim Jong-un, in a that language Secretary [of State Rex] Tillerson has said, and said this morning, is the kind of language Kim Jong-un will understand", Nauert said.

On Twitter Wednesday, Trump said he had pushed to "renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal". The spread of fallout, and the threat of a spiral of attacks that could bring about a "nuclear winter", all but guarantee that Americans would share in the suffering and loss of a nuclear exchange on the Korean peninsula or anywhere in the Pacific.

Still, he declined to say whether the U.S.is considering a pre-emptive military strike, arguing that his administration never discusses such deliberations publicly.

On Tuesday, Trump warned North Korea that it would "face fire and fury like the world has never seen" if Pyongyang continued threatening the United States and South Korea. He also said that he hopes the USA will never have to use its nuclear weapons. The U.S. document reportedly assessed that the North had mastered the ability to fit a nuclear warhead on its long-range missiles.

The president's retweets about his rhetoric Tuesday come as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was urging calm. Tillerson insisted the US isn't signaling a move toward military action, while it pursues a policy of sanctions and isolation of North Korea.

Echoing Trump's martial tone, Mattis said North Korea should stand down its nuclear weapons program and "cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people". But Tillersontold reporters that nothing he's seen or knows of in the last day dramatically changed the situation. It was also reported that defense secretary Jim Mattis was shocked at the level of low preparedness in US forces.

As a regional power and American rival, China may be happy to see Kim antagonizing the U.S., Cheney said.